My Secret Boyfriend
by Kumori sensei
Summary: When Sasuke's grandparents come for a visit, his secret of two years comes out... NaruSasu. I do not own Naruto.


My Secret Boyfriend

My grandparents were down for the weekend and as usual I was getting pestered about getting a girlfriend. Only my brother knew about it-because he somehow always knew what was going on in my life-but I was dating my neighbour. A boy. A cute blond boy with a lot of energy and not enough focus on his studies and future. He was a great guy and despite being a bit of a slacker, he looked out for his friends and people in general.

Naruto was always saying how he wanted to meet my family. I always claimed he already had but he'd lightly hit or shove me saying he wanted to be "introduced as my boyfriend". It wasn't that I particularly saw it going badly. Well, not where my mother and brother were concerned anyway. Father on the other hand I wasn't so sure about. He could be hard to read. I didn't think he'd be an ass about it but he might not like it. Maybe I shouldn't care but the thought of that really bothered me.

Thankfully, Naruto was always really understanding of this unreasonable refusal of mine. It had been a little over two years now. Itachi kept making these sly remarks whenever my love life was brought up too which really pissed me off. It was obvious he wanted me to come out and admit to dating my blond too. Either way between him and my grandparents I was on my last nerve. Without being able to keep it in any longer, I stupidly blurted out the truth of the matter.

"I'm dating my neighbour, all right?" I muttered. "Will you get off my case now?"

"What?! You have a girlfriend?! Why didn't you tell us earlier?" My grandmother exclaimed.

Mother perked up at the news too. Her eyes alighted on me in excitement. Oh no. That look is never good...

"The neighbour? Are we talking about the Uzumakis?" Mother asked eagerly.

Ugh. She immediately jumped on it being Naruto. She had been giving us suspicious looks lately... She probably put it together with how much more affectionate Naruto had gotten. There was no way two years would pass without it showing. Mother and him got along really well too so it wouldn't surprise me if he said a little too much over the years either. Honestly, she was always pushing towards us getting together ever since we got into high school.

"Uzumakis? Don't they only have a son? How could Sasuke being dating anyone there?" Grandmother asked.

"Oh, don't be so immature Mother!" Mother exclaimed with an eye roll. "There is nothing wrong with Sasuke, or anyone else for that matter, dating the same sex."

"Mikoto! How could you say such horrid things?!" Grandmother gasped.

It was dinner so the whole family was sitting around the table and the reason why it got to the point where I just threw out my secret of two years like it was nothing. Now the two of them were fighting over whether it was right or wrong to date the same gender. It was nice to hear how supportive Mother was, but it wasn't much of an argument. Neither of them were willing to listen to what the other had to say. Grandfather was watching them but Itachi and Father were watching me instead. It made me really uncomfortable so I quickly finished eating and excused myself.

"Wait! You never told us who this neighbour was!" Grandmother proclaimed, sounding quite sure her daughter was wrong about it being Naruto.

"Please! Mother knows best!" Mother huffed indignantly. "It's Naruto! If you had seen the two together you'd know it too!"

"Stop saying such disgusting things, Mikoto!" Grandmother glared.

I could feel myself tense up and I didn't want to deal with the situation so I muttered something about homework and went upstairs to my room where no one would bother me. Once I was safely inside I collapsed onto my bed, dropped an arm over my eyes and sighed. Glancing off to my side table, I saw a light flashing on my phone. I had a message. I wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone but I picked it up in case it was important.

My mood lightened as soon as I saw Naruto was the one who texted me. Even though he was asking how it was going with my grandparents I couldn't help but smile. It was stupid how quickly my day would brighten because of him. I stared at the question, not really sure what to say. Ignoring him was out of the question but I didn't really want to let him know my grandparents were homophobic. He would get worried.

In the end I just settled on them being a handful. It wasn't exactly a lie but didn't tell him anything that was going on right now. I was going to have to let him know I let the cat out of the bag soon too. He texted me several hours ago, probably during his work break, but a response came in minutes. The idiot was asking if I wanted him to come over as "moral support". Despite my exasperation, I smiled. It would definitely be nice to see him but it wouldn't be okay to have him come here while he was still in the dark about my little confession. Besides, I didn't want him to have to pretend we weren't a thing when we were. He always got down when he had to.

It's not like he'd need to at this point but that's basically what he was offering. All I said was that I'd just used homework as an excuse to leave them so him coming over would be too obvious. He whined in regret and said he missed me with one of those sad face emojis on the end. Before I could even start thinking about a response he asked if he could come over later. My smile was practically glued to my face through our messages.

I refused on letting him over-he sounded so offended with the quick string of replies that came-but I said we could get together later. The messages stopped abruptly for a couple of minutes as he tried to deduce what that meant. In the end, I got a simple "what" of confusion from him. I smirked as I saw it and told him I'd rather get out of the house. Then Naruto complained about me leading him on, but the "lol" at the end told me he wasn't actually upset at all.

I wasn't sure what to say at this point. Socializing wasn't my strong suit and it was even harder through text. So I just asked if he was still at work. He didn't normally get off for another hour or two. He was. According to him the place wasn't busy right now, but with him that could just mean he was hiding in a corner of the store. Even though I didn't want to, I told him to get back to work because of that. I asked when he got off and if he drove, promising I'd see him when he got off. He probably hadn't drove since it was the middle of summer and he liked to bike so I'd pick him up.

Naruto sent another sad face my way, but agreed. He biked like I thought and he got off in an hour. I put my phone away afterward and did some studying to pass the time. It wasn't long before my phone was going off again though. It was another message from Naruto. He was all excited and asking me why I didn't tell him I'd told the family we were dating. I was confused on how he knew at first but then I realized Mother must have told Kushina and then she'd messaged him in turn. Despite him clearly not being upset about it, I felt bad that he'd heard it from someone else first.

I took my time considering how to answer. Not getting into the details was important. My grandparents were homophobes and that was impossible not to mention if I told him the whole story. I would tell him about that when we saw each other. I settled for just saying I planned to tell him when we saw each other and apologizing that I didn't tell him sooner. I really did feel bad that he had to hear it from his mother first. Naruto just brushed it off though, telling me not to worry about it. It wasn't like I was hiding it from him and that I was planning on telling him in a couple hours anyway so he was still finding out the same day. It was my mother's fault for being so excited and telling his mother, who would obviously message him, before I had the case to properly tell him.

It did make a bit of sense and it was true that it hadn't been long since it happened so I did feel a bit better. Truthfully, it was likely only because he wasn't upset at all about it that I was able to feel better. I would tell him again in person anyway. Naruto was surprisingly good at hiding when something bothered him, especially through text, so I'd feel better if he knew I meant it.

"I'm going out for a bit." I said as I passed my family in the living room and headed for the door.

"Out? Where to?" Mother inquired, glancing over the back of the sofa at me.

"I'm not sure." I shrugged and paused for a moment to consider if I should continue or not. "I'm meeting up with Naruto."

"Oh! Okay, Sweetheart~ Tell him I said hi~!" Mother said all bubbly-like.

"I will. Bye." I sighed and left while she called a good-bye back to me.

As I was leaving, I could hear my grandmother's dirisitive tone over her excitement for me seeing my "boyfriend" and then they were arguing again. It made me glad to be getting out of the house even more.

It was a short drive to his work. About ten minutes. I got out of the car to wait for him. He always insisted on hugging me when he saw me and wouldn't get into the car until I came out and gave him one. I thought it was a bit ridiculous. It wasn't like he wouldn't be able to once we got to wherever we were going but it wasn't worth fighting him about either. Naruto was just that impatient.

I was glad to get out and wait for him this time though. Seeing him calmed me down and it was all too easy to understand why he was so impatient for those hugs on days like this. So I leaned against my door and sent him a text telling him I was here. A message soon came in telling me that he was just getting changed now and would be heading out soon. I didn't bother replying to that and put my phone in my pocket to wait.

My blond came bounding over to me as soon as he got out the door a few minutes later, a loud call of my name falling from his lips and a bag slung over his shoulder; presumably with his clothes. His blue eyes shone brightly as they fell on me and I'd barely looked over to him before his arms were squeezing me tightly to him. With a fond sigh, I leaned into him and lightly returned the hug. It wasn't a long hug since he knew I wasn't too big on public affection but a hand quickly stole one of mine and a kiss was planted on my cheek.

It was quiet for a bit as I stared at him. There was a tilt of his whiskered face as he waited for me to say something. When I didn't, he asked where we should go. I glanced over at the road while I thought about it. I wasn't in the mood to be around people right now so I guess his place was the only real option. Naruto smiled knowingly when I said where I wanted to go and he nodded before twirling my keys around his finger. Wait, when did he get those?! I glared at him. He had to stop pickpocketing me whenever he felt like it. It was something he was surprisingly good at.

"Aw, c'mon, don't look at me like that." Naruto laughed. "I just want to drive so you can relax a bit."

"That doesn't mean you can steal my keys." I ground out.

"I'm not stealing them." Naruto protested with a pout.

I glared at him.

"I don't get why it bothers you so much." Naruto whined and puffed out his cheeks. "It's not like I ever take anything from you."

He held the keys out to me as he said so, obviously thinking I wanted them back. A part of me wanted to take them just to spite him. No matter what he said it still bothered me and I wanted him to stop. Unfortunately, preventing him from driving wasn't going to accomplish that. It was fine if he drived so long as he'd just stop pickpocketing me. So I pushed the keys back towards him with an aggravated sigh.

"I don't want the keys." I said. "I just want you to stop taking stuff off me like that."

Naruto continued to pout at me without saying anything for a minute but then he sighed and nodded.

"I'll stop. Promise." Naruto assured me.

I relaxed having heard so and moved into the passenger's seat while Naruto climbed in behind the wheel. Once we were both belted in, he started up the car and headed out. Belated, I remembered that his bike should be back at the store somewhere. When I mentioned it, he shrugged and said he'd just toss it into the back of the car when he drove into work tomorrow.

The idiot should have just put it in the back of mine. Naruto gave me an amused look when I said so. For him to be making a face like that he must have known it was an option. He must not have cared that much but it was still dumb. I rolled my eyes at him and looked out the window. My blond giggled a little as he focused on the road. Apparently, he was too excited to see me to bother with his bike. It was sweet, but absurd even if it was true.

The rest of the short ride was filled with the sound of the radio. It was '70s music. Honestly, I was a little surprised he didn't change it to one of the pop stations. He liked to belt out the lyrics to all that crappy music like that "I kissed a girl and I liked it" song. Which was ironic because he had and he didn't. Although sometimes he changed the "girl" to "boy". He always gave me cheeky grins and wiggled his eyebrows when he did that. It was dumb and amusing maybe the first three times. It was old now and I kind of wished he would stop. He could change the lyrics all he liked but those suggestive looks needed to stop.

"Aw damn, Mom's home." Naruto sighed as he pulled into the driveway. "She must've gotten off work early today."

"You don't usually care if Kushina's home or not." I looked at him expectantly.

He glanced at me as he parked the car.

"Well, she did just find out we're dating..." Naruto pointed out. "I don't really know what to tell her about why I never mentioned it."

That reminds me, I still have to apologize about that.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I should've known Mother would've called her at the first opportunity." I said awkwardly glancing away.

"Why are you apologizing again? It's not like you." Naruto laughed. "And I already told you it was fine. I'm really not upset about it or anything. Unless it was a lie you were planning to tell me later today?"

"Shut up. I'm allowed to feel bad about it." I muttered uncomfortably. "And of course I wasn't lying."

"Exactly. So the guy who won't even apologize unless one of us finds it serious shouldn't be feeling the need to say sorry twice over this." Naruto grinned.

"Hn. Let's just go inside already." I grumbled and quickly got out of the car.

Naruto laughed at my quick retreat but it didn't come up again when he got out of the car either. He tossed my keys over to me as he came round to meet me. I put them away and he immediately snatched up my hand once it was free. Instinctively looking over to him, he was only watching me with one of his carefree grins.

"Anyway, just tell her the truth." I said. "That her inability to prevent herself from spewing all the information to my family meant she couldn't know."

"...Man, you're harsh." Naruto said seriously but his eyes were alight with laughter.

A grunt was the only response he got. He giggled a little at me as we headed towards the door. Once we were inside Naruto called out an "I'm home" to his mother. Kushina's loud exclamations of excitement that he was back came with banging noises as she hurried to us. She obviously wanted to congratulate her son on getting a boyfriend and hear all about it too. Probably scold him a little for not telling her sooner. Or at all, really.

Naruto paid none of the sounds any mind as he took off his shoes. Neither did I. We were both used to the energy of his mother. They were both like that so I could hardly be affected by it at this point. Our families being long time friends, we've known each other all our lives. We didn't always get along and there was a time I could never imagine the two of us as a couple, but things were different now.

"Naruto, finally, now tell me all about-!" Kushina stopped mid-sentence when she saw me.

She blinked a couple times in surprise before looking between the two of us as if she wasn't sure if she should continue or not. Either way, she did settle down a little.

"Hi, Sasuke, I didn't expect you to be coming home with him." Kushina said. "Anyway, Naruto, how could you tell your dad you two were dating and not me?! Your mother is very hurt over here!"

"Liar. You just hate that you never picked up on it yourself." Naruto rolled his eyes at her. "And we weren't telling Sasuke's family and you would definitely have spilled the beans so it couldn't be helped."

"So you told your father and not me?!" Kushina whined. "How could you have faith that he wouldn't tell me at the very least!"

"'Cause Dad knows how to keep a secret." Naruto shrugged. "Anyway, we're going upstairs. Tell us when dinner's-"

"Naruto! Congratulations! I'm so happy this isn't-!" Minato stared at Sasuke and the rest of his sentence trailed on quietly. "-a secret anymore..."

"Hi Dad. Bye guys. See you at dinner." Naruto sighed and pulled me upstairs with him.

I gave a small wave to them since they complained that my nod of greeting wasn't enough for them. Every time I saw them. Naruto got great amusement out of it whenever it happened despite being like them at one point too. It wasn't like he ever said anything about them being over the top or unreasonable though. Actually, he encouraged their behaviour. I gave him dirty looks whenever he did so in front of me.

As far as he was concerned he was looking out for me. Maybe it was true but I didn't appreciate it one bit. I knew he wanted me to be more sociable and their insistence kind of forced it upon me so he was all for it. However, it made me tense to be stuck in that kind of predicament. Naruto knew that and he never pushed it too much on me but he didn't seem to understand that my awkwardness didn't lessen with his family any more than it did a stranger. I grew up around his family but I wasn't particularly close with them so I didn't appreciate it.

That being said, I'd rather deal with his parents than a stranger. Either way, I was glad not to be in that situation right now and in his room instead. Naruto tossed his bag of things to the side before dragging me over to his bed. He made me sit down next to him and turned to me expectantly. With childish excitement, he told me he wanted to hear the whole story with my parents finding out about us now. I frowned at the thought of that smile fading when I told him about my grandparents but there was nothing I could do about that. So I dutifully filled him in on what happened.

It was upsetting yet heartwarming to see how his posture straightened and his eyes filled with concern when it came up. Naruto was biting his lip through it so it was obvious he wanted to say something but was forcing himself to keep quiet until I was done. I appreciated that. For Naruto, there wasn't ever really much of a filter between his thoughts and words so they tended to be blurted out as soon as he thought them. Even during class, when he read a surprising text in the classroom when he was supposed to be paying attention to the teacher he sometimes spewed out his thoughts before realizing it. So I knew he was making the conscious effort not to for my sake.

"That's awful! What shitty things to say!" Naruto bit out angrily but then he sighed and continued in a softer tone. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"You would have just worried about it and there was nothing you could do." I shrugged. "So I didn't want to bring it up until we were together."

Naruto made a face like he didn't quite agree and I was expecting it to lead into an argument. It wasn't as if I didn't know he wouldn't like me keeping it to myself like that and I had fully expected him to have a lot to say about it. In the end, that expression fell away to a slightly bothered one.

"I still wish you'd told me." Naruto protested. "I know I couldn't do much about it, maybe even nothing, but don't I have the right to try?"

It was obvious he wasn't looking for some promise I wouldn't do it again next time or expected anything from me. That bothered me. He said it hoping that I'd bring myself to let him know when something happened while it was going on or whenever I got the chance to as opposed to keeping it from him until a "better" time. He was willing to accept that not happening though. I wasn't being fair and we both knew it yet he was just ignoring that.

Even though I didn't want him to worry, I knew I couldn't keep things from him. I just wanted to be there when I was telling him things like this. Naruto was always really good about everything. If I'd rather tell him in person, he was okay with that. He just wanted to know if something happened or he was needed. I should be able to do that much. I had to do at least that much. It wasn't okay for me to be acting this way regardless of whether Naruto was willing to overlook it or not.

It felt lacking and entirely less than he deserved but all I could say was "yeah, sorry". I was never good at these things and putting together the right words. I grinded my teeth together in frustration. There was more I should be saying-that I'd try harder, that I'd do better next time. Some kind of assurance that I wouldn't pretend nothing had happened or making less of a situation. The words wouldn't come out though and I hated it.

Then I was suddenly being enveloped in a hug. I didn't move at first, just stared into the firm chest uncomprehendingly for a minute. Slowly tilting my head to look up at him, he had one of those stupid warm smiles adorning his face. Those expressive blues were filled with understanding and I knew those two words somehow told him everything. It still bothered me that I wasn't saying what I should but I melted into him all the same. At least he knew.

"So your grandparents don't really know we're dating yet, right?" Naruto asked. "Should I tell them? I kinda want to, just to shove it in their faces that you are mine."

"Do what you want." I mumbled.

At this point, I didn't really care. It would be nice to have Naruto there anyway. There was definitely going to be a lot of yelling, Mom and him getting angry with them from their poor response to the news. Regardless of how Itachi and Father felt on the matter I knew neither of them were about to say anything. Especially with those two on the case. They wouldn't have room to get a word in edgewise. Both Naruto and Mom were the type that when they went off it was impossible for anyone else to say anything. How they managed to work in tandem when they went off at the same time I had no idea.

"Great! Then I'm coming over first thing tomorrow!" Naruto grinned. "Are you gonna stay here the night and we can go over in the morning?"

Naruto's voice became hopeful as soon as he asked. My lips quirked up a little at how obvious he was. Despite being casual about it, it was clear as day that he wanted me to stay. It was tempting to pretend to decline to get a reaction out of him but I decided against it. My blond was doing his best to make a crappy day turn for the better so I shouldn't be mean like that. So I mumbled a bland agreement and pulled out my phone. There was a quiet exhale that I knew was him pouting about my lack of eagerness.

I smirked up at him as I texted Mother to let her know I wasn't coming home tonight. He made an affronted face when he realized I was doing it intentionally. My phone went off, telling me I'd gotten a reply. I immediately felt embarrassed upon seeing my mother's text. Apparently she had expected it since I hardly ever didn't when I saw Naruto. I quickly tossed my phone aside and pressed into my blond.

The idiot must have been curious about it because I heard him giggling shortly afterward and I saw him making a proud face while staring at my phone. I grumbled under my breath in mild annoyance but he ignored me and started chatting with my mom. Naruto fell onto his back and ran his fingers through my hair with one hand, using the other to text Mother. It left me unsettled, mainly because I knew Naruto would relay everything to her and I didn't really want him to, but I contented myself with the affectionate touches and did my best to ignore it.

A little later I heard him put my phone down on the headboard. That small sign that he was done talking to Mother was relieving. Now I didn't have to worry about something I did getting reported to her. Those two liked to talk about me way too much.

Then I felt his other hand slide into my hair. I hummed happily at the attention I was getting. His hands moved down to my back and I could sense the grin taking over his face as a light groan left me. Too much of my time was spent tense and my upper back, shoulders in particular, were always sore. I didn't like being touched much with close friends, never mind strangers, so I would never go to a masseuse. As such, it was always such a pleasant thing to have Naruto's massages, even like this.

There was a quiet huff of annoyance every now and again when my shirt got in the way of his actions but it was otherwise silent in his room. I would have suggested he watch something but I didn't want him to stop. This guy was the type who could idly play with my hair while watching something but would get too caught up in what he was watching if he was rubbing my back. It was probably because he enjoyed running his fingers through my hair more than massaging my back.

As long as he had something occupying his head he didn't mind the quiet. He didn't mind doing this for a while because of that or so he told me. It was possible he was just saying that so I'd let him do it. Naruto liked to do nice things. It made him happy. So I didn't worry about it and simply enjoyed what he did.

Unsurprisingly, a little later he got sick of the shirt and slid his hands under it. I smirked slightly to myself. It always ended up like this when he gave me massages. He could have just started like this but he probably worried that I'd get the wrong idea. To be honest I didn't bother telling him that since it was amusing to listen to him huff in aggravation over it.

"Aaah, I'm so hungry." Naruto sighed. "I wonder when dinner'll be ready."

"You should have just grabbed something before coming up here." I said as I looked up at him.

"What are you saying?" Naruto frowned. "If I did that we _never_ would have made it up here in the first place."

I snorted and rolled my eyes at him. It might have taken a bit more conversing to get away from his parents but it wasn't impossible. The blond gave a little whine to that as I put my head back down. I ignored it. There was some grumbling and then he said he was going to go get something. Not quite happy about having to move, I made a snide remark about him not making it back up here if he left. He gave me a dirty look and jostled me around a little so I'd get off him.

He was up as soon as I rolled off him. I watched as he got up and stretched. Naruto grinned at me and said he'd be back "as soon as he could", his tone implying it would be a while, and disappeared out his door. I glared at his retreating back and then the door for that remark. It was because I teased him about not getting back but he'd probably hang down there for a good couple minutes after deciding what he wanted to go along with his comment.

Of course, there was the possibility that his mother or father would hold him up down there. They were both obviously excited to talk about the fact that we were dating. He'd eventually escape them with the excuse that I was stuck up here on my own if that happened. Unless that _actually_ didn't occur to him. Mn. Maybe I should have gone with him just in case. Although that removed the excuse altogether. I guess I'd text him if he wasn't back in ten minutes. It usually only took him a couple minutes to find something to snack on so something was likely up if it took that long.

It wasn't a minute later that my phone went off. I frowned when I saw the dork's name as the sender. Kushina was just finishing up cooking and enlisted him to set the table when he popped into the kitchen. It came with a sad emoji. Without bothering to respond, I rolled my eyes as I put it away. If dinner was that close to being ready we'd be separated for all of five minutes if I chose to stay up here. I wasn't going to though, which was why I didn't message him back.

Manners dictated that I go down to help now that I knew what was happening. Besides, it was pointless to wait up here if I was just going to have to head down in a couple minutes anyway. So I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen where Naruto and Kushina were. My blond grinned at me when he saw me. He'd already set all the plates and came over to me with a hand full of utensils in it. His eyes darted over in his mother's direction before quickly leaning in and kissing me on the cheek.

The idiot had a huge grin on his face as he pulled away. He was clearly happy he could do that now. It would have been embarrassing for me if Kushina was watching so I appreciated that he checked first. I offered him a small smile in return and it was probably just my imagination but it seemed like his eyes shone a little brighter afterward.

"I have to go grab Dad." Naruto said a moment later. "Mind finishing up for me?"

"Sure." I shrugged and took the forks and knives from him.

My eyes followed after him as he hurried off to get Minato. I realized my mistake in letting him go when I turned back to see Kushina staring at me from the kitchen in obvious excitement. Pretending not to notice, I finished setting the table all too quickly. I stood there staring at the table as if I could will it to give me something to do other than enter the kitchen to help Kushina with the cooking. Or just to send Naruto back in here so that all the questions would be sent his way instead.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen. If it had occurred to Naruto what would happen with him gone he would have just asked me to grab his father instead. So they'd probably take their time heading back here. Which meant I could just ignore the fact that the food needed to be brought out here or deal with it. It was too ingrained into me to help out to ignore her though. So with a long sigh I moved into the kitchen.

"Sasuke, sweetheart, how long have you two been dating?" Kushina jumped straight into it as soon as I was in reach.

"...A couple years now." I said carefully.

"Years?! You've been dating for years!" Kushina exclaimed in shock. "I can't believe you've been together all this time and no one told me! Why didn't you want to tell anyone?"

Great. Something I really didn't want to talk about at all. It was hard to think up a reasonable excuse without really getting into it when we've been dating for this long.

"There were... just some things I needed to deal with first." I couldn't think of anything better, but that really didn't sound like a good reason at this point.

There really was no excuse as to why it never came up. Despite my insecurities on the matter, I should have told my parents a long time ago. They deserved to know. Naruto even kept it from Kushina for my sake. He should have been able to tell them when he wanted to. It might have been okay to ask him to hold off for a little while but not this long. He shouldn't have to be careful about how he acted either. It was just all around unreasonable. There was no denying that, but I wasn't about to talk about any of this with Naruto's mother.

"Hmm... Well, if you say so." Kushina said lightly and moved onto something else about our relationship. "So, since you've been dating so long, what have you done?"

What I thought was going to be a more comfortable topic quickly turned into something else. I nearly dropped the plate of chicken I was holding at the unexpected question. Why the hell was she asking something like that? Goddamn it, Naruto, you need to get back here _now_.

As I hurried ahead into the dining room, pretending to not have heard her, her laughter clearly followed behind me. She quickly chased after me with a plate of her own in hand and pestered me for the details. It was a terrible mistake to enter the kitchen alone with her. Thankfully, my blond came in soon after and quickly picked up on the situation. At the very least, he knew I was uncomfortable.

"Oi! What are you two talking about?" Naruto asked as he cut his conversation with Minato short and came over to me.

I had never been so relieved.

"Oh, just your sex life." Kushina said airly with a smile.

How could she be so casual about that...? Both Minato and Naruto groaned in unison at what they heard.

"Stop doing that! It's weird!" Naruto whined. "No one wants to talk to you about it and _I_ don't want you to _know_ about it!"

My eye twitched. This was _normal_? What the fuck was wrong with my boyfriend's family?

"Yes, please, Honey. I really don't want to know about it either." Minato pleaded weakly.

"Geez, you guys are no fun!" Kushina complained.

"Whatever. Just stop bringing it up." Naruto grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it already." Kushina rolled her eyes and waved dismissively.

Everyone started to settle at the table, Naruto leaning over and whispering a quick apology about his mother. I really wanted to comment on the fact that this wasn't new but us whispering to each other wouldn't go unnoticed and I couldn't be giving Kushina an excuse to stay on the topic. So I just dropped it along with the apology.

Of course, we were still the main topic at the table. The content was a lot more reasonable now though. Minato and Naruto ganged up on Kushina whenever she got a little too personal to cut that line of discussion off. For the most part Naruto was happy to answer all the questions. He told them about how we got together. It was a bit of a sad story really. Neither of us confessed properly. We got drunk and made out, avoided each other for a while and then admitted how we felt so we could move forward.

It was embarrassing to have it told like that. Naruto was a bit reluctant to tell it too. Although I knew it had nothing to do with embarrassment. He just wished it came about differently. Honestly, he'd probably be happier if it was some kind of drunken confession as opposed to some awkward series of events. The idiot just wanted to confess on his own terms instead of being in a situation where he couldn't really deny them anymore.

Anyway, Naruto glared at Kushina as she laughed at our sad story. Minato sent us a sympathetic look on the other hand. He probably heard the story from Naruto at this point though. It wasn't likely he'd go this long without asking about it. There was a lot he had already heard by now for sure. Minato loved to be in the know on what went on in his son's life and Naruto was all too happy to include him. Especially if it meant getting to talk about me. At least those two were only like that when alone with each other. Father-son bonding time as it were.

There were a few other stories that came out over dinner. Mostly of dates. Minato would excitedly suggest Naruto telling ones he particularly liked. Kushina went on another tangent once she realized how in the loop her husband was on what went on with us. They spent a good five minutes calming her down. They tried too anyway. It was just when the redhead had settled down enough to rein in her emotions to an indignant pout.

Either way, the dinner was an eventful one. I didn't eat much since I had dinner at home not that long ago. They just had a late dinner so they could all eat together. It was sweet how his family did that. Mother would love to do that too but sometimes it just wasn't possible. We handled the dishes afterwards and Naruto's parents went off somewhere. Mainly because Minato dragged his wife away so that she would stop pestering us with questions. It really never would have ended without the outside help. Naruto's running away upstairs didn't seem so laughable anymore.

My blond chatted idly about his day at work as he dried the dishes and put them away. A few laughs that happened. Once we were secured back in his room though he changed the topic to how my day was. We both knew it wasn't the best. It was cute how he waited until we had the privacy of his room to ask. He really did think of me a lot at times like this. I gave him a small smile when he came up and lightly hugged my waist.

Naruto gently squeezed me and swayed me softly. It wasn't necessary but I liked being near him so I only pressed into him more. I slipped my arms around him and dropped my forehead on his shoulder. While I didn't care to talk about what happened, I knew it was important to him to hear it. So I rehashed my day to him. It might have made me upset to talk about it a couple hours ago when I'd just saw him but I didn't care about it anymore. Maybe he knew and that's why it took him this long to ask. For it to have taken him until now, that was likely the case.

"Ya know, I could take the day off tomorrow if you want." Naruto said.

"Don't be stupid." I snorted before he could go on. "I'll be fine. Go to work."

"You sure? I don't want you to be stuck alone with them once they know I am, in fact, your boyfriend." Naruto said.

"Yes, I'm sure. You don't need to worry so much." I pulled away so he could tell I was serious. "We both know Mother will kick them out if they give me a hard time."

"I wanna kick them out too..." Naruto pouted at me.

I shook my head at him in amusement.

"I'm sure Mother would love that." I commented lightly.

"...I think you're the only one besides your grandparents who aren't going to want me there." Naruto said seriously.

"Geez, if you want to stick around so badly I won't stop you." I snickered.

"But I want _you_ to want me there!" Naruto whined while gently shaking me.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you..." I smirked at him. " _Don't_ stay then."

"What? No, I'm staying!" Naruto said quickly, sounding honestly concerned that wasn't an option anymore.

I chuckled at him and shook my head a little at how ridiculous he was being. Apparently thinking the head shake was me telling him no, he started to panic a little as he pleadingly said he wanted to stay. It made me laugh some more and I told him I'd let Mother know he was going to be over all day tomorrow. The moron let out a relieved breath and perked up immediately. He asked if he could talk to her when I took out my phone.

As usual, the notion of them talking made me uncomfortable. It was tempting to tell him no but he had her number and would grab his cell after pouting at me for a bit. So I just handed it to him. Naruto skipped over to his bed as he punched in my code. I frowned at him without moving from my spot. He looked up soon after he'd settled on his bed and waved insistently for me to come sit down with him. With a soft sigh, I settled down next to him.

A whiskered cheek puffed out in dissatisfaction. He stared at me as his fingers remained unmoving over the keyboard. I raised a brow at him expectantly. What did he want? I came over, didn't I? Naruto made a face before dropping his eyes to the gap between us pointedly. I snorted and rolled my eyes at him. This guy seemed to _hate_ the concept of personal space since we started dating. Truthfully, he was never mindful of it in the first place. Especially with me. Foolishly, I'd never thought much of the fact that he was more affectionate with me than others. Or maybe I just hadn't wanted to go there.

Either way, what was once casually accepted, I now got looks for. Seriously, didn't he _ever_ get sick of being this close to someone? It was fine if he wanted to cuddle. I really didn't mind being as affectionate as he wanted to be, it was just annoying that I got these looks all the time now. Couldn't he just snuggle into me or something instead of making a big deal out of nothing. Anyway, I reached into his nightstand for his PSP before leaning into him like he wanted.

Naruto hummed happily as soon as my weight settled into him. I was about to send him another eye roll but the action was interrupted with a kiss to my temple. His attention returned to my phone afterward and he contentedly went about texting my mother. In the end, I only sighed at him. Then I dropped my eyes to his game system and entertained myself with the game he had in it. It was one of his favourites; Final Fantasy: Crisis Core.

Originally, I'd just start a new file whenever I picked up one of his games but he played this one so much that it was worth continuing from the last time I played it. Replaying the same scenes over and over again got old pretty quick. It was a good game for sure but I'm not too into them so I don't concern myself with beating them. I've seen the beginning of this one enough times that it's no longer a good way to pass the time. So I might actually beat one of his games for once. He always loved the ones that were mainly story driven and took forever to beat. One of the many reasons he loved the Final Fantasy franchise.

"Oh hey, you're decently far into the story now." Naruto commented as he looked over to watch the cutscene that came up. "You're about a quarter way through the game now!"

I frowned at that last part. I'd put a good amount of gameplay into this. Several hours of it. That I was only a quarter of the way through was kind of annoying. It would be nice if his games weren't so long all the time.

"You complete all the side quests and everything else you can in these games right?" I asked.

"Yep! Gotta get that 100% complete status at the end!" Naruto said.

"Then you put way too much time into these things." I sighed.

"Uwah, so mean!" Naruto pouted. "You make it sound like I lock myself in my room for 90% of the day!"

"You _do_ whenever you get a new game." I retorted.

"...Okay, but I'm just excited about it." Naruto argued. "And I only do that for a day! Two at most!"

With an eye roll and a snort, I didn't bother to comment further and just focused on leveling my characters for the next boss I'd have to fight. My blond let out a little whine at being ignored but went back to texting Mother without complaint. The conversation was lasting longer than I thought it would, especially since he really enjoyed watching me play his games for some reason. So I ended up asking what he was talking to her about.

I felt him shrug a little before responding. They were talking about how they would handle my grandparents tomorrow. Great, I didn't want to hear anything else about that. He also apparently mentioned that I was playing his game and was telling her about it. Mother actually enjoyed his games since they had some nice stories going on in them. There were times they'd sit around the TV and play them together. Sometimes Mother played. Other times she just watched Naruto play and enjoyed the storyline, chatting about the game dynamics or other things when level grinding was going on.

It made sense now why he hadn't gotten off my phone yet. Since it was about tomorrow, it was more important to him than watching me game. Talking about his favourite game was also just something Naruto loved to do. My mother being interested in it would just keep him going. It must be nice for him. While I'd always listen, I didn't really care much so he didn't get everything he was looking for out of it. He would rather talk about it with someone who could appreciate it and that wasn't me. So I'm glad Mother can be that person.

A good couple hours went by like this. Naruto divided his attention between my phone and his game. He warned me whenever I was about to head into new scenes, where fights were involved, so I could save ahead of time. Whenever I had trouble with an enemy, he'd give me some pointers. Typically, he'd tell me the attack sequences that came with the opponent so I could better strategize. There was some idle conversation here and there but now I was getting tired of all this running around and fighting.

My efforts decreased considerably. It was easily picked up on by my blond. He said he was saying good night to my mother now and had soon put my cell aside. Then he took his PSP from me with a soft smile and quickly ran me to a save point before turning it off. After putting it aside, he pulled me closer. A moment later he was asking if I wanted to watch a movie before going to bed. I glanced at the time and saw that it was a little after nine now. Personally, I'd rather just go to bed early instead of try to find a movie we'd both be interested in and potentially end up going to sleep at midnight but I knew what he was really after was some cuddle time.

We did that a lot and it wouldn't kill him for me to say no. If he wanted to cuddle so bad he should have stopped talking with Mother earlier or just stopped long enough to readjust us. Besides, it would happen regardless of whether we were sitting up watching something or laying in bed trying to sleep. It was just different depending on what we were doing. On the other hand, Naruto was definitely too awake to fall asleep and he was restless when he was made to lay down before he'd had time to die down. I didn't mind watching something if it didn't take long to decide on something either.

So I asked what he had in mind. My boyfriend thought about it for a minute and then turned to me with a grin. He suggested a movie based on a true story of a soldier. That actually wasn't half bad. He loved action movies so he still got some of his element from that in this. Meanwhile I actually really liked true stories. It sounded like a good idea.

When I gave the go ahead he eagerly got up and set everything up on the TV. Then he turned off the lights and climbed back into bed. My blond crawled over to me and slid his arms around my waist. He snuggled into my side and shifted around until he could comfortably watch the movie. I smiled down at him and draped an arm over his shoulders. As the movie started up I lightly caressed his arm and I felt him press into me more as I focused on the screen.

The emotional parts had Naruto tearing up at times and it was a nice story, if a little sad. Thankfully, this guy was all settled down afterward so it would be easy to go to bed. He took the remote and turned the TV off, ignoring the other electronics still on. I rolled my eyes at him and got up to do it myself. The dork made a dissatisfied whine when I pulled away from him but he let me go. He eagerly cuddled back into me when I returned.

His limbs got tangled up in mine and he leaned up to look down at me. I could just see a tinge of the blue in his eyes in the dark room. Then he quietly said good night and softly kissed me. He dropped his head onto my chest afterward and got comfy. I idly played with his hair for a few minutes and couldn't help smiling when I soon heard his light snoring. As long as he wasn't hyped up about something when he went to bed he fell asleep so quickly. Dropping my arm to his waist, I settled in for the night.

Naruto whined and buried his face into my chest when I tried to wake him in the morning. He wasn't a morning person and was refusing to get up. I sighed as I continued to shake him. With some effort I managed to get him up. There was a lot of yawning and shuffling as he went about his wake up routine. Unfortunately, a shower wasn't enough to wake him up but it did make him alert enough to know what he was doing.

Anyway, I was already done by the time he got out and I watched in exasperation as he fumbled to put on his clothes as if he was hung over. Heavily hung over. Another yawn escaped him as he managed to get tangled in his shirt. Geez... Coming up and hugging him from behind, I murmured into his neck that he had to quickly wake up if he wanted to show up my grandparents in the next half hour. Naruto made a small noise but had stopped moving when I came in contact with him.

I sighed and looked over his shoulder to see what the hell he did with his shirt. After getting him ready, I eyed his sleepy face. There had to be a way to jump start that head of his. It wasn't like he actually had to tell them as soon as he saw them but that had definitely been the plan. This was absurd, I shouldn't have agreed to us heading there for breakfast. If we went for lunch he'd be far more functional. How did he make it through high school like this anyway?

The only thing that came to mind seemed ridiculous. There was no reason to think it would wake him up. It was Naruto, so maybe that wasn't entirely true. Despite that, it felt like a stupid idea. An idea I did anyway because my only other one involved punching or smacking him which wasn't okay. So I moved in front of him and sighed at his unfocused eyes. I grabbed his face and brought it to mine. As I carefully kissed him, I felt like an idiot.

Yet as I stood there I felt his lips move against mine and his hands settle on my hips. As the kiss continued they slowly moved around to my back. My blond gently pulled me against him and deepened the kiss. When I pulled away and looked up at him I saw his eyes slowly opening. Alert blue eyes stared down at me. So it worked. That was good but I wanted to sigh at the absurdity of it all.

"...What was that for?" Naruto asked.

"I was just kick starting that brain of yours." I said, pulling my hands away and flicking his forehead before stepping out of his hold.

He made a discontented sound and closed his eyes when I did. Then he watched me with one eye as he rubbed the spot. He grumbled about it hurting but I ignored him.

"Anyway, now that you're awake, let's go." I was already heading towards the door when I told him that.

"Ah... Right!" Naruto exclaimed cheerfully as he hurried to catch up to me.

Bright blues looked over at me as his lips stretched into a grin once he was at my side. I spared him a glance but didn't return the smile. It wasn't often that I did. My blond only took my hand and continued to smile.

His parents would already be up by now and he called out that he was heading over to my place to them. A simple "okay" was called back from Kushina and that was it. We were soon out the door and getting into my car. Living right down the road, it would have been more efficient to just park at home and walk here and back but of course Naruto having been the one driving last night didn't think of that. Oh well, it wasn't a big deal either way. He snatched my hand away again once we were in drive. Geez, we'd be there in under two minutes, why was he grabbing my hand? He held it in his lap and caressed the back of it. When I peeked over at him, ready to comment on it, he had a gentle look on his face as he stared into his lap.

Feeling embarrassed, I quickly looked away and swallowed my words. I thought he would definitely be making some kind of determined and cocky face now that he was about to be faced with my grandparents. What the hell was on his mind to look like that? It was probably better I didn't ask. I didn't know what he would say but it certainly wasn't going to help with this fluttery feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. It wasn't exactly unpleasant but it made me self-conscious and I didn't want to add to it.

Naruto turned to me when we pulled into my driveway and I had to take my hand back to park the car. He looked excited. Not in that self-righteous "I'm gonna show them!" kind of way. There was an innocent giddiness in his eyes. I was about to ask what that was about but he answered the question before I could even ask it.

"I know they already know about us now but," Naruto told me, "I'm really excited to say it out loud."

My heart skipped a beat and I was all too conscious of the sudden heat in my cheeks. My heart was beating faster and my mouth felt dry. I couldn't help swallowing because of it. This wasn't really surprising, I was just so focused on the thing with my grandparents that I didn't realize this would be us officially announcing ourselves as a couple to my family as a whole. It caught me completely off guard and despite it not being shocking, there was just something about _hearing_ it that made my throat constricted and my stomach churn.

"...Yeah, this is long past due." I mumbled and looked away.

"You got that right!" Naruto laughed but then he leaned into my ear and said in a softer voice. "But I think it was best we waited until things were in the right place, ya know? Even if no one else knew, you were _mine_ and that's all that matters to me."

Damn it Naruto, stop saying—whoa, what are you...? My train of thought stopped when his lips connected with mine once he tilted my face enough to reach them. It was embarrassing to think anyone could have seen us but that was the furthest thing from my mind. Those stupid sweet words and his touch were the only things occupying my mind and I easily sank into the kiss. My eyes drifted shut as I was taken over by the action.

I reached my hands out and pulled him closer. Naruto had already removed his seat belt so he easily moved his upper body over to my side. My back pressed into the seat and my shoulder into the door. Things were quickly becoming heated but I was too worked up to care. Wherever this would have headed I wouldn't have stopped it. Thankfully for us, my blond had enough sense to stop us himself. My disappointment was soothed by the reluctant look on his face. While neither of us wanted to stop, this was for the best.

Those blue eyes twinkled knowingly at me after though and I wanted to wipe that smug look off his face instantly. As I calmed down, he quickly placed a quick kiss to my lips before retreating back into his seat. Chipper as ever, he hopped out of the car. He was in an even better mood than before. His day was getting better and better. I knew my grandparents reaction to the news was going to all but ruin it and that put an ache in my chest. I didn't want that but I knew Naruto wasn't going to keep secret that we were together for a second longer than he had to even to maintain his current spirits. This was that important to him.

I couldn't blame him. He had been waiting a long time for this day. Besides, I knew that while it would anger him to hear my grandparents feelings on the matter, it would also bring him great satisfaction to make it clear there was nothing they could do about it. My blond would certainly have a lot to say. Most of it was sure to embarrass me, but it warmed my heart to see how far he would go over something as small as this.

My grandparents homophobia wasn't something I liked to deal with, but it wasn't something I needed to be defended on. It wasn't like their feelings moved me in any way. At the end of the day I was still going to be with Naruto. It was nice to have him here when I told them that they were wrong about me being straight and that I had a boyfriend, but it wasn't necessary for him to announce it himself. Just him being here was more than enough.

I liked that he wanted to do more though. Watching him go off on them was satisfying in a way. At this point, I doubted my grandparents reactions having any real impact on me. Despite not outwardly showing it much, Naruto simply made me too happy for their disapproval to matter on any level. If they, or anyone else, couldn't accept it then that was too bad. He was here to stay and nothing was going to change that.

"Hey, good morning everyone!" Naruto called as he stepped through the door.

Everyone greeted us when they heard his voice and we all settled into the dining room. There was a bit of light chatter while we ate. I saw my mother send Naruto a look when a lull finally came in the conversation and he coughed pointedly into his hand. This was it then.

"Ahem. So, me and Sasuke have something we want to say." Naruto was practically buzzing with excitement.

"Well, don't keep us waiting Naruto!" Mother piped in as was obviously planned out last night. "Spit it out already!"

"I— _We_ , just wanted to officially let you all know we're dating." Naruto had one of his characteristic grins on as he said so and I noticed his cheeks were a little pink in this eagerness. It was cute.

"Oh! That's so great to hear!" Mother squealed in honest excitement over news she'd already gotten. "Right, boys?"

There was a tone that said ignoring this conversation was not allowed on any level.

"Mm. It's about time you came out to us." Itachi said, adding as an afterthought, "Congratulations."

That was about what I expected from him. Next up was Father.

"...I'm happy for you two." Father said it with a bland expression which made me uncertain if he actually was or not.

It wasn't like him to say something he didn't mean but Mother had just pressured him to say something nice so I wasn't sure. Maybe I should think better of my own father but I just couldn't tell with him at all. I guess it didn't really matter in the end. All I could do was hope he meant those words and act as if they were. His feelings wouldn't undo my choice anyway and there was no use worrying over something that I couldn't do anything about either.

Now it was my grandparents. As my gaze settled on them, they still seemed to be processing what they heard. They were both frozen in shock. Soon they would surely lash out. Grandmother was the first to speak. She immediately turned on my mother and claimed that she shouldn't enlist her son and his friend to act like a couple to try to get at her. On the other hand, Grandfather turned his eyes on me instead of saying anything. We stared at each other without saying anything and then he cringed. He pried his eyes away from me and placed a hand on his wife's shoulder.

She stopped mid-sentence and turned to him in confusion. When he shook his head at her she understood that Naruto's words were real. Honest. That us being together was the truth. Her expression immediately changed to one of horror and she looked at us in disgust. Her eyes were only on me for a moment before turning to Naruto. There was such rage there and she rushed to her feet, pointing an accusing finger towards him. My body tensed automatically at all that hostility getting aimed towards my blond.

Even though I expected it, I didn't like seeing him being treated like this. A torrent of words flew from her mouth. It was a lot of slander and she was saying how he needed to leave. Without looking away from him she was telling Mother to kick him out. That drew her into the argument too. A quick sidelong glance to my boyfriend showed all his simmering anger. His fists were clenched tight and he was breathing through his nose to keep control over himself. I was surprised. I didn't think he would bother with that. It was pretty rare of him.

"Oi! Listen here, lady." Naruto butt in suddenly to their argument and his angry tone surprisingly shut both of them up.

Mother probably had enough control to stop herself so he could speak but he'd definitely caught everyone's attention with the bottled up anger that flowed out of his mouth with every word.

"If anyone ends up leaving, it'll be you." Naruto said. "Regardless of if that's out of this house or his life, because I ain't goin' nowhere and there's nothin' you can do about it."

"You-!" She started.

"-Shut up! I'm not done!" Naruto yelled as he jumped to his feet now, all his anger pouring out like a flood. "All you're doing is imposing your opinions on everyone here! And I won't stand for it! Because it's only about you! It has nothing, _nothing_ , to do with Sasuke's feelings! This is who he is and you can accept it or you can get the fuck out! Even if I lost it up here, I'd never be stupid enough to let 'im go! And lady, I would _never_ leave him to you! 'Cause this unaccepting, uncompromising bull shit of yours ain't good for nobody, least of all him! And the fact that I've accepted him for who he is—the fact that I would _never_ ask him to change a single fucking thing about himself—means I'm way better for him than you could ever be when you can't say the same!"

Naruto was panting heavily afterward. My cheeks felt hot again. God, he really just said all that didn't he? Of course he did. Only he could say that without feeling the least bit embarrassed about it even after calming down. Mother looked so happy with what Naruto said. Itachi and Father had small smiles on their faces too. It was only my grandparents who had those steely looks still in tact. There was such rage in them.

"Now I'm done. So talk. Then leave." Naruto said.

"Don't speak as though you have the authority to kick us out!" Grandmother exclaimed.

"Whatever. Even if—and that's one big fucking _if_ —Fugaku or Mikoto don't, I'll just be taking Sasuke out of here and won't let him come back until you've gone back home." Naruto huffed. "And I'll do that every time you come around."

Normally talk that didn't include my opinion would bother me but I knew Naruto wouldn't force anything on me if I wasn't willing so I didn't concern myself with it.

"You...! Why are you two letting him talk like that anyway?!" Grandmother suddenly turned on my parents.

"Hmph. Why wouldn't I?" Mother rolled her eyes. "I agree with everything he's said."

"I won't have this attitude in my house either." Father said. "So the boy is right, if you cannot keep your opinions to yourself then I'll have to ask you to leave."

A smile finally appeared on Naruto's face again as my parents backed him up. I doubted it came as a surprise to him. He was probably just enjoying seeing my grandparents being backed into a corner. It looked like Grandmother was going to blow up again but then Grandfather touched her arm as he got up. He sent a dirty look to his son before turning to leave. Grandmother did the same to everyone at the table. Father escorted them out to make sure they left without further incident and Naruto sat back down once they were out of the room.

Mother patted him on the back and said he did a good job. My dork grinned up to her in a good mood again. A relieved smile came over me seeing that. I hadn't thought his good mood would return so quickly. Other people's unfairness or unreasonableness could pollute his mood for several hours. Depending on how much he had to deal with whatever it was that bothered him it could last days. So it was a welcome change to see him at peace with things.

"It ended up being quicker than expected." Naruto laughed.

"That's because you broke from the script two minutes into it." Mother teased. "No, it wasn't even that long!"

"Sorry~ I never was very good at containing my anger." Naruto stuck his tongue out.

That explained why he was trying to stay in control of his emotions like that.

"That was very obvious today." Mother continued to tease.

"Uwah! If it was something else, I would have done better you know!" Naruto protested to the lack of confidence.

"Oh?" Mother smiled amusedly.

"Yeah! I just get more worked up if someone's being shitty to Sasuke!" Naruto argued.

"I see." Mother's eyes twinkled as she looked at me.

Damn it, why did he have to say something so stupid? My face was heating up again. It wasn't beyond him to say that as an excuse but I could tell when he was doing that. Now wasn't one of those times. God, he was saying such sappy stuff. The worst part was that it got to me. Mother could tell and was enjoying every second of it. It would be great if I could just get out of here now.

When Naruto was about to continue down that line of conversation I stomped on his foot in warning to shut up. He yelped as his eyes widened at the unexpected assault. Then he looked over at me as I glared. Wide blue eyes blinked repeatedly in surprise at my face. Then his broke out in one of his signature grins. I hated how much I liked it being there when he was giving me so much struggles.

His arms came around me as he giggled at me and he told me all about what Mother and him had planned. It was horrifying. For me, anyway. Thank god Naruto went off script. I didn't know what I'd do if he kissed me in front of them. Not a simple peck on the lips either. What was wrong with him? How could he think it was okay to do that?! The moron gave me a sheepish smile when he saw my reaction and admitted they might have gotten a little carried away. _Little_ my ass.

He stayed huddled next to me the rest of breakfast. His arms squeezed me happily occasionally and I just wanted to die. Itachi and Mother kept sending me looks that I did _not_ appreciate on bit. Naruto either didn't notice or was pretending not to. He was _definitely_ ignoring my discomfort with his closeness though. I wanted to kill him. This was too embarrassing. I didn't handle public affection well and he knew it so why the hell was he doing it?!

Once we finished eating a little later, Mother shooed us away. Normally I'd put up more of a fight but today I was grateful she wouldn't accept our help cleaning up and dragged Naruto away. My blond was surprised but he obediently followed along. When he sidled up next to me I glared at him. His eyes widened at my hostility and he fell back a step. I felt a bit of satisfaction from the action. Although I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my head, probably wondering what he should do.

"Hey, thanks for letting me be here." Naruto said, apparently deciding to ignore my mood.

I wanted to ignore him but I could sense the sincerity in his voice and couldn't bring myself to.

"You don't need to thank me for that." I grumbled.

"Sure I do! It means a lot to me that I got to be here and that you let me defend you!" Naruto proclaimed happily. "I know you don't like other people fighting your battles for you and all that."

"If that's what you were aiming for I would have shut it down." I said and looked back at him. "Even if you hadn't planned to say your piece, I knew it would have happened anyway. It was something that really bothered you and I know you were saying it as much for yourself as me. So I can't really get upset over it."

"That's true but..." Naruto scratched his cheek. "I know you can fight your own battles and all that and I guess I didn't need to say all that 'cause you could've handled it yourself and... Well, I just know I have to be able to keep my mouth shut in respect to what you want sometimes so I'm just happy that you were willing to let this not be one of those times."

...Sometimes, he really knew how to use my words against me. In the sweetest ways too. Damn, I couldn't be angry with him after that. With a defeated sigh, I waved him over to me. My stupid blond tilted his head in confusion for a second but then grinned excitedly and tackled me in a hug. I grunted and rolled my eyes at him.

Naruto was back to his cheery, nonsensical self once we were in my room. No more of those sweet words. Hopefully. I had my fill of that for the rest of the month the past few days.

To my surprise, his arms slid around me and my lips were captured in a hard kiss. He must be in an emotional mood because of earlier. I guess that explained why my discomfort was being ignored. It might not have been a good idea to give into him when he was like this but all this emotional talk had riled me up and thrown my logic through the grinder. All that mattered to me right then was that it felt good to kiss him. So I closed my eyes and met him with just as much passion.

Luckily for us he wasn't after anything. He just dropped his head to my shoulder after the kiss and buried it there. His arms were tight around me and he didn't say anything as he held onto me. I wasn't sure what was going on in that head of his but I wordlessly wound my arms around him and guided us to my bed. Awkwardly falling onto it, we resettled ourselves there. Naruto laid on top of me and appeared to be content to just lie there. So with a watchful eye on him I played with his hair how he liked and after a while he pulled away to smile down at me.

"You know, I dunno if I've told you before but," Naruto's gaze was filled with warmth, "I'm really, really happy being with you."

"...Yeah, you've said so." I whispered embarrassedly.

"Good. 'Cause you should know how special you are to me!" Naruto grinned.

Ugh. He really needed to stop. There was only so much of this I could handle.

Thankfully, he sank back into me afterwards. At least I knew his thoughts weren't headed anywhere sad now. The butterflies in my stomach told me I was pretty fucking happy about him thinking about me too. Fuck, I needed this day—or week—to end already.


End file.
